Day 71 – March 12, 2022

Deuteronomy 30, 31

¹ “Now it shall be, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I set before you, and you will reflect in your heart among all the nations where the Lord your God scatters you, ² and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice from your whole heart and from your whole soul, according to all I command you today, ³ that the Lord will heal your sins, have mercy on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God scattered you. ⁴ If any of you are scattered from one end of heaven to the other end, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there the Lord your God will bring you. ⁵ Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land your fathers inherited, and you shall have it as an inheritance. He will prosper and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ The Lord your God will purify your heart and the heart of your seed to love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul, that you may live.
⁷ “Also the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ As for you, you will once again obey the voice of the Lord your God and do His commandments, whatever I command you today. ⁹ The Lord your God will take great care of you in all the work of your hands, in the offspring of your womb, in the produce of your land, and in the offspring of your cattle. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers, ¹⁰ if you obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep and do all His commandments, ordinances, and judgments written in this book of the law, and if you return to the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul.
¹¹ “For this commandment I command you today is not too burdensome for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven above, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very near you, in your mouth, in your heart, and in your hands, that you may do it.
¹⁵ “See, I set before you today life and death, good and evil. ¹⁶ If you hear the commandments of the Lord your God I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His ordinances and judgments, then you shall live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you go to inherit. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but go astray and worship different gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I announce to you today, you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land the Lord your God is giving you, into which you are crossing over the Jordan to inherit. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you: I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live ²⁰ and love the Lord your God, obey His voice, and cling to Him. For this is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
Joshua Leads the People
​¹ Now Moses finished speaking these words to the children of Israel. ² Then he said to them, “I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself is also crossing over before you, as the Lord said. ⁴ Then the Lord will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, and their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵ The Lord gave them over to you, and you will do to them as I commanded you. ⁶ Be valiant and strong, do not fear nor be afraid of them, nor be terrified before them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes before you and with you and among you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him before all Israel, “Be valiant and strong, for you must go before this people to the land the Lord swore to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. ⁸ But the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not be afraid, nor be terrified.”
Read the Law Every Seven Years
⁹ So Moses wrote the words of this law in a book and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and to the elders of the sons of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them on that day, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the Year of Remission, at the Feast of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ¹² Gather the people together, men and women and offspring, and the resident alien within your cities, so they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and may hear and do all the words of this law; ¹³ and their sons who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as they live in the land you cross over the Jordan to inherit.”
Final Word to Moses
¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the day of your death is near; call Joshua, and stand at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony, and I shall give him My commandments.” So Moses and Joshua went to the tabernacle of testimony and stood at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony. ¹⁵ Now the Lord came down in a cloud and stood at the doors of the tabernacle of testimony; and the pillar of cloud stood at the doors of the tabernacle. ¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you will sleep with your fathers; and this people will rise and commit fornication with the gods of the foreigners of the land where they go to be among them; and they will forsake Me and break My covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ Then I shall be aroused in anger against them in that day; and I will forsake them and turn My face from them. So he shall be a prey, and many evils and troubles shall find him; and he will say in that day, ‘These evils found me because the Lord my God is not with me.’ ¹⁸ So I will surely turn My face from them in that day because of all the evil they did, and because they turned to foreign gods.
¹⁹ “Now therefore, write the words of this ode and teach it to the children of Israel, and put it in their mouths, that this song may be a testimony for Me among the children of Israel. ²⁰ For I shall bring them to this good land I swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey; and they shall eat and be satisfied. Then they will turn to foreign gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then this ode will rise up and testify against them; for it will not be forgotten from their mouth, nor from the mouth of their seed, for I know the wickedness they do today, even before I brought them to the land I swore to give them.” ²² Therefore Moses wrote this ode on that day and taught it to the children of Israel. ²³ Then Moses commanded Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be valiant and strong; for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land the Lord swore to them; and He shall be with you.”
²⁴ So it was, when Moses completed writing all the words of this law in a book, and when they were finished, ²⁵ he commanded the Levites who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, ²⁶ “Take the book of this law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and it shall be there as a testimony against you; ²⁷ for I know your rebellion and stiff neck. For if while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against God, then how much more after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me your chiefs, your elders, your judges, and your teachers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will become utterly lawless and turn aside from the way I commanded you. Then evil shall befall you in the latter days because you will do evil before the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the works of your hands.” ³⁰ So Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this ode, until they were ended:

Psalm 63

​¹ For the End; a psalm by David.
² Hear my voice, O God, in my supplication;
Deliver my soul from fear of the enemy.
³ You sheltered me from the conspiracy of evildoers,
From the multitude of those who work lawlessness,
⁴ Who sharpen their tongue like a sword;
They stretched their bow, a bitter thing,
⁵ To strike down the blameless man in secret;
Suddenly they will shoot him, and not be afraid.
⁶ They made an evil word strong in themselves;
They told of hiding snares;
They said, “Who will see them?”
⁷ They searched out lawlessness;
In searching they grew weary.
A man shall draw near, and the heart is deep;
⁸ And God shall be exalted.
Their blows became a childish barb,
⁹ And their tongues were utterly weakened in them.
All who saw them were troubled,
¹⁰ And every man was afraid.
And they proclaimed the works of God,
And understood His deeds.
¹¹ The righteous man shall be glad in the Lord, and shall hope in Him;
And all the upright in heart shall be praised.

Proverbs 13:1–5

​¹ An astute son is obedient to his father,
But a disobedient son is for destruction.
² A good man eats from the fruits of righteousness,
But the souls of the lawless will destroy themselves before their time.
³ He who guards his mouth keeps his own soul,
But he who is hasty with his lips will dismay himself.
⁴ Every idle man has desire,
But the hands of the courageous are diligent.
⁵ A righteous man hates an unrighteous word,
But an ungodly man is ashamed and will not have confidence.

Mark 12:28–44

²⁸ Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
³⁰ ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
³¹ “And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
³³ “And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?
(Matt. 22:41–46; Luke 20:41–44)
³⁵ Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?
³⁶ “For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’
³⁷ “Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly.
Beware of the Scribes
(Matt. 23:1–7; Luke 20:45–47)
³⁸ Then He said to them in His teaching, “Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces,
³⁹ “the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts,
⁴⁰ “who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
The Widow’s Two Mites
(Luke 21:1–4)
⁴¹ Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much.
⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.
⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury;
⁴⁴ “for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”